Daughter of War
by 84-Quill-72
Summary: Lyric Bellicose is taken against her will to Camp Half-Blood where she finds out why her father's never really been a part of her life and struggles to fit in with siblings she never wanted. Does not adhere to death of Lee Fleatcher; maybe M eventually
1. Prologue

Prologue

"What do you mean leave? You can't leave." A young woman said loudly, directing her anger at the large man before her.

"I have to. I have responsibilities, you knew that when we started this whole thing." He replied shaking his head.

"'This whole thing'? What are you talking about? You said you loved me, you told me I was like no other woman you'd ever met." She snapped "Or was that just a way to get into my bed? Is that it? You wanted sex and you thought that appealing to my rebellious side and telling me that you love me would work?"

"That's not it at all. I'm the God of War, D, I have to go back. There's no way for me to stay with you no matter what you say."

"I'm pregnant." She glared at him, tears shining in her green eyes.

The god's jaw dropped and he sank into a chair "What?"

"Pregnant. You know, the thing that happens when a man and a woman have sex and a sperm fertilizes an egg forming a little human."

"Don't be such a smart ass." He snapped.

"You have no right to tell me what to do." She stood up and opened her apartment door "Get out."

"You were just telling me not to." He said getting up.

"And you weren't listening. You have 'responsibilities' so go ahead and get out of my house. I was fine before you showed up, I'll be fine after you leave."

"What about the baby?"

"I'll raise it right. You don't have to worry about that. So just go away and leave us alone, we don't need you."

Ares sighed and walked out of the apartment before taking on his godly form and going back to Olympus.

* * *

><p>Ten months later, the young mother was sitting in a rocking chair singing her newborn daughter to sleep. "I promise, you will never need your father in your life. I'll do all I can to give you the best life possible." She said quietly as she laid the girl down in the bassinet.<p>

The girl squirmed a little but didn't wake. "I love you Lyric." Her mother whispered to the sleeping baby.


	2. Chapter 1

Chapter One

"_On my own, pretending he's beside me_

_all alone, I walk with him til morning _

_without him, I feel his arms around me _

_and when i loose my way I close my eyes and he has found me_

_in the rain, the pavement shines like silver _

_all the lights, are misty in the river_

_in the darkness, the trees are full of starlight_

_and all i see is him and me forever and forever_

_and i know, it's only in my mind that I'm talking to myself and not to him_

_and although I know that he is blind _

_still I say, there's a way for us_

_I love him, _

_but when the night is over he is gone _

_the rivers just a river _

_without him, the world around me changes _

_the trees are bare and everywhere the world is full of strangers_

_I love him_

_but every day I'm learning _

_all my life, I've only been pretending _

_without me, his world will go on turning _

_a world that's full of happiness that i have never known _

_I love him _

_I love him _

_I love him _

_but only on my own"_

The theatre echoed with the voice of the young woman standing centre stage. The other actors, actresses, chorus members and crew clapped loudly as the girl's mother walked onto the stage and proudly hugged her daughter.

"You were amazing darling." Dianna Bellicose told her daughter, a smile on her beautiful face. Dianna was a seasoned Broadway actress who had starred in more than thirty different plays – and that was only the ones where she'd had a lead role. She had deep red hair that looked almost black in some lights, moss green eyes and skin that had a slight olive tint.

"Thanks mom." Lyric smiled back at her mother. She was an almost spitting image of her mother; the only differences were the slight changes in the tones of her coloring. Her hair was fiery red, her eyes were deep green and her skin was like flawless porcelain.

Lyric had spent all of her seventeen years in Manhattan only two streets away from Broadway. She grew up in a brownstone that was lavishly furnished but not to the point that it looked like a museum. She had everything any child could've wanted but she was also treated like every other child: she had chores, curfews, and got grounded when she disobeyed the rules.

Lately she'd been starting to follow her mother's footsteps, going for small roles that fit around her schedule. The role of Eponine in _Les Miserables_ was her first major role and it was also her first time being in the same play as her mother.

She'd been in some form of performing arts since the age of three, dancing, singing acting you name it she's done it. Despite all of her training, she was nervous beyond all belief when it came to co starring with her mother.

"Are you alright dear?" Her mother's tone was colored with worry "You're pale."

"I didn't sleep well last night," Lyric smiled at her mother "Nerves that's all." She moved off the stage as the directer called for a set change so her mother could rehearse. As she sat in one of the middle rows, she thought back to the real reason she didn't sleep well last night.

She'd been plagued with dreams of women with snakes for legs trying to kill her and whenever she got away from them there were more and more monsters that she'd only ever heard of in mythology.

Her mother had just started to sing when there was a terrible explosion, smoke filling the theatre in a matter of seconds; "Mom?" Lyric yelled out in alarm, coughing as the smoke and dust filled her lungs.

She heard movement behind her and spun around hoping to see her mother but instead came face to face with a snake legged woman from her dreams. The monster swung at her with a long bronze looking sword; McKenna screamed and lept away, the blade just barely missing her arm.

She spun and ran towards the stage but her path was blocked by two more of the snake legged monsters "What the hell?" She muttered under her breath, ducking to avoid another blade.

Suddenly the two in front of her burst into gold dust and the one behind her screeched in rage and lunged forward trying to grab her arm but she was pulled roughly into the cloud of dust. "We have to go – now." A strange male voice said gruffly and pulled her away through the destroyed theatre.

Lyric dug her heels into the ground "I'm not going anywhere without my mother so you can get you hands off of me." She tried to pull her arm from his grasp but all that resulted was a bigger man grabbing her around the waist and tossing her over his shoulder.

"We're leaving with or without your cooperation." Nothing else was said as she was carried out to the back of the theatre and put on the back of a horse – not just a horse, a

horse with wings – a Pegasus.

* * *

><p>The next thing she knew, she was waking up on a couch in a strange living room that she didn't recognize, surrounded by people she didn't recognize.<p>

"Did you really need to knock her out?" A man in a wheelchair asked a large boy standing next to a man with curly dark hair and rosy cheeks wearing a zebra print shirt.

The boy shrugged "She was freaking out, I did it to avoid a scene."

"Beckendorf." The wheelchair man sighed and wheeled over to check on her "Ah, you're awake. Sorry about the less than wonderful welcome, normally – well normally you would've been conscious after such an easy rescue."

"Easy? You call an explosion, freaks with snakes for legs and **swords** easy?" Lyric sat up, swung her legs over the edge of the couch and glared at the men in the room. "I don't. I call it a distraction with intent to kidnap."

The trio looked at each other, confused "What?" Zebra print man asked.

"Taking me out of that theatre against my will, knocking me unconscious and transporting me to a destination of unknown location is legally classified as kidnapping." She said matter-of-factly.

"We haven't kidnapped you young lady. You belong here, I sent Beckendorf here to go and talk to you and your mother, to explain to her that it was time." The man in the wheelchair said kindly.

"Two questions: one, who the hell are you people. Two, what do you mean 'time'?"

"My name is Chiron, this is Mr. D" He pointed to the zebra print man "And this is Charles Beckendorf."

"Chiron, like the centaur from Greek mythology? Son of Kronos, husband of Chariclo?" The information flew from her mouth before she could stop it.

Chiron chuckled "Yes, that would be me."

"And you are?" Mr. D asked not looking at her and sounding bored.

"Lyric Audrey Bellicose, daughter of Dianna." She replied paying equal attention to him "Now, back to my question, time for what?"

"You obviously seem to know your mythology so perhaps you might be able to figure it out." Chiron said as the front door slammed shut.

"Hey, sorry about the door and sorry I'm late." A mischievous looking boy said coming into the room.

"It's fine Travis, you haven't missed much." Chiron said "Now, Miss Bellicose, the gods of Mt. Olympus exist today and are tied to the flame of western civilization. Do you recall from your education how the gods would sometimes come down to Earth and, now how did my students put it?"

"Hook up?" Travis offered earning a snort from Beckendorf.

"Yes, that would be it. Hook up with mortals."

"They exist? Well that explains alot actually." Lyric said almost to herself. "And yes I do remember, the gods seemed to have more children with mortals than they did with their spouses."

"Yes well we won't get into that. Would you be so kind as to tell me what the children of those unions were called and if possible, give me an example?"

"They were called demigods and the most famous of them was Hercules, son of Zeus. Another was Helen of Sparta, also a child of Zeus."

"Very good. Now why do you think this is the information that I have chosen to give you?"

"Because you're going to tell me I'm a demigod." She said bluntly. "So, who's my father?"

"I'm afraid that Travis and Beckendorf are going to have to finish your education, I am needed elsewhere." Chiron said before wheeling out of the room with Mr. D.

"Come on, we'll take you to cabin 11." Travis said turning and moving towards the door. Lyric squinted a little as she followed the guys outside; she saw strawberry fields, a rock climbing wall that had ... lava, and twelve different looking cabins all set out in a "U" shape.

"I'm going to assume that not every god has a cabin here." She said looking at the cabins.

"Nope, none of the minor gods have one." Beckendorf said as they started past a couple. "I have to go, word of advice, don't accept anything from Travis without thoroughly checking it out first." He said and then walked away.

She watched him walk away and then cast an uneasy glance at the guy next to her. "Why did he say that?"

"I'm a son of Hermes." He grinned knowing that it explained everything. "Now, on with the tour. The cabin that Beckendorf is headed to is the Hephaestus cabin, god of the forges. The one next to it is the Aphrodite cabin, home of the most beautiful people in the camp."

Lyric nodded, seeing some of said people walk out of the cabin.

"So that's cabins 9 and 10; cabins 1,2, and 8 are empty being the cabins of Zeus, Hera and Artemis."  
>"That makes no sense, well the Zeus part doesn't. He's – well for lack of a better term and I mean no offense by this – a man whore." Thunder rumbled a little and Travis flinched.<p>

"I'd be careful what you say. Zeus doesn't like to be insulted, no matter if there's truth to the insult or not. The reason that it's empty is because the Big Three – Zeus, Poseidon and Hades – made a pact that none of them would have any more children."

"Oh. How long did that last?"

"Not long. Anyway, cabin 3 is for Poseidon, it only has one resident; cabin 4 is for Demeter, 5 is Ares," He pointed out the three cabins. One looked like it was made out of coral, one like it was made out of grass and the third was red and absolutely terrifying.

"I would _not_ want to be in cabin 5." Lyric shuddered at the thought.

"I wouldn't worry about that, you're pretty and the daughters of Ares usually are more butch than pretty." Travis laughed "You look like you'd belong in either cabin 7 or 10, with Apollo or Aphrodite."

"Apollo wouldn't be so bad. I'm not sure about Aphrodite though."

"Cabin 6 is for Athena, only brainiacs welcome there. 11 is Hermes, it's my cabin but it also houses anyone who's godly parent either hasn't claimed them or has claimed them but doesn't have a cabin."

"That doesn't seem fair, I don't understand why the minor gods can't have cabins, they obviously have children too." She frowned as thunder rumbled again.

Travis shrugged "It's how it's always been and I don't see it changing anytime soon." He led her over to cabin 11 "Here is your new home until your dad claims you."

She looked in and was shocked by just how many people were in the cabin "Wow."

An older looking girl came over to them "Hi, I'm Aileen, girls bunk over here." She led Lyric over to the other side of the cabin and behind a screen. "Don't worry, I'll get you back to Travis in a sec."

Lyricwas given a space of floor – all the bunks were taken – a sleeping bag, pillow and a small bag of toiletries lifted from the camp store. "Thanks..." She said quietly.

"Are you alright?" Aileen asked, noticing the sadness in the younger girls eyes.

"Yeah... I'm fine." She said and thanked Aileen for her help, turned and headed out of the cabin. She walked over to Travis, a small show smile on her face "Wanna finish the tour?"

"Sure but first thing's first, who in Zeus's name are you?" He asked giving her the once over.

"... Lyric... You know that.." Someone tapped her shoulder and she spun around only to find herself face to face with Travis... again... maybe.

"Lyric, this is my brother Connor. He said with a grin.

"Oh, hi." She blushed "Sorry about that."

"Don't worry about it, happens all the time." Connor laughed "But I will help you out with the tour."

"Wicked lets go." Travis said and steered McKenna out of the cabin after his brother. "So what did I miss?"

"Well you didn't tell me who lives in cabin 12."

"He got through the others?"

"Yeah, one is for Zeus, two for Hera, three for Poseidon, four Demeter, five for Ares," A small, unbidden shudder passed through her at the mention. "Six for Athena, seven for Apollo, eight for Artemis, nine for Hephaestus, ten for Aphrodite and eleven for Hermes."

"Well you showed off your mythology knowledge in the Big House so who's missing?" Travis asked.

Lyricthought for a minute; there were only twelve cabins and Travis had mentioned before that none of the minor gods had cabins so that would insinuate that only the Olympic Counsel had cabins here. She went through the list of cabins again and smiled when she came to her conclusion "Dionysus. He's the god for cabin 12."

"Very good." The brothers clapped a little "No one's been able to get it that fast." She laughed and found the rest of the tour with the brothers quite enjoyable.

"Well, now that you've seen the camp how about meeting some more campers?"

"Uh, sure." She said, wondering if she would be able to contact her mother at all.

"Alright well right here we have Silena Beauregard," Travis said pointing to a blonde girl a few feet away from them "Come here."

"Hi, I'm head of cabin ten." Silena smiled prettily.

"Hi, I'm Lyric." She returned the smile, liking Silena almost immediately. They chatted for a little, during which time she was introduced to one of Silena's brothers (Andrew) and one of her sisters (Caroline).

"We'd be more than happy to continue your introduction to the camp if you'd like Lyric." Caroline said giving the Stoll brothers a sickly sweet smile that held nothing but contempt.

"No, thank you. I'm enjoying their guide, it's entertaining." She gave her a cold hard smile in return, her eyes glinting.

"Well there's no reason to get so rude." Caroline sniffed.

"Look, I was just attacked by freaks with snakes for legs, there was an explosion that could've killed my mother, I've been brought here against my will and told that I'm a demigod. I am not in the mood for some superficial little princess to start snubbing two of the only people who have been nice to me."

"You can't talk to me like that. Do you have any idea who my mother is?"

"I don't care if you're mother's the queen of Sheba and you're the god damn tooth fairy, there is no reason for you to think that you can walk all over people." Lyric snapped, her eyes going dark.

Connor, Travis and Silena were staring at her, eyes wide with shock. Sure people got annoyed with the children of Aphrodite but no one had _ever_ gone off like this.

Lyricclosed her eyes and took a few deep breaths, trying to calm down; she had a volatile temper when she got going and let it take it's course. She opened her eyes, turned and continued to walk the way she and the brothers had been going before.

Travis and Connor followed her leaving a trio of shocked people behind them. "Hey, what was that?" Travis asked her when they caught up to her.

"That was intense." Connor said shaking his head a little.

"Yeah, my temper's a little out there. Sorry. I really didn't mean to blow up like that..." She sighed.

"Have you let her have any contact with her mother since you brought her here?" Connor asked his brother.

Travis was quiet for a few minutes giving Connor the answer he expected.

"Dumb ass." He muttered "Come on, I'll teach you how to Iris-mesage and you can talk to your mom." He said to McKenna taking her elbow gently and guiding her away.

* * *

><p>That night Lyric was lying in her sleeping bag, wondering if she'd ever be able to lead the normal life she'd planned on since she now had a god for a parent. She thought back onto all the tales of heroes with godly parents, they'd all either become gods themselves at the end of a very hard life or died in a horribly excruciating way; neither option sounded good to her.<p>

She sighed and shifted as she tried to get comfy – a hard thing to do on the floor of a cabin. She thought back over the events of the day and winced a little when she remembered going off on a daughter of Aphrodite _There's one cabin that won't be my friend._ She thought with a yawn, rolling over and tucking an arm under her head, slowly falling asleep.


	3. Chapter 2

Chapter Two

A few days later, Lyric was sitting on the beach, her hair up and a pen behind her ear staring at a note pad on her lap. She was trying to write down the lyrics that had been dancing around her head for the last few days; she wasn't having much luck, but then she never did when it came to songwriting.

She put her note pad and pen down and laid back on the grass with a sigh. Over the past few days Lyric had found herself actually enjoying most of the activities that this strange camp offered; one of the few things she didn't particularly enjoy was the rock wall with lava.

She thought through the things she had yet to try and realized that she had forgotten archery; she'd always wanted to try it and had gotten a little excited when she found out they offered it. According to Connor, lessons were given by the kids from Apollo's cabin – kids who were, for the most part, as good looking as they were talented.

She got up, grabbed her things and made her way to her cabin to change. After a few minutes chatting with a couple friends, Lyric made her way down to the archery field; she watched the people as they fired arrow after arrow, never missing their targets. "I hope I can be half that good." She muttered leaning against a tree.

"With the right training you could be." A voice from behind her said. "Or just as good."

Lyric jumped and spun around "H-hello." She squeaked; she still couldn't get over how _quiet_ everyone around here was.

He laughed "Hi, sorry if I startled you." He held out a hand "I'm Lee, Lee Fletcher."

"Lyric, Lyric Bellicose." She smiled.

"You're the bitter little actress that showed up a few days ago aren't you?" "Lee grinned "No offense."

"Well I take offense." Lyric said with a small smile, her eyes dancing. She liked this guy, he was different from the others here.

"Well then I think in way of apology I will offer to be your archery teacher."

"That would depend on your godly parent." She said "Cause I want to make sure the people who teach me things get at least a little of their talents from a god."

He laughed "That makes sense especially since most of the skills you obtain here help with the whole survival thing."

"Exactly. So, who do you call parent?"

"Apollo, god of music, healing, plague, prophecies, poetry, and archery."

"Plague? I didn't know that." She frowned "Wow."

"Yeah, it's a little weird." Lee chuckled "What about you? Any thoughts on who you call parent?"

"Not a clue. The population of the Hermes cabin has a betting pool going, some say that I'm a daughter of Aphrodite, others say I'm a daughter of Apollo, a couple say Demeter. Lets see, who else have they suggested, Galene, goddess of calm seas, Chione, goddess of the snow, oh and Iris, goddess of the rainbow and divine messenger."

"Wow, you really are the topic of conversation aren't you?"

"You have no idea." She mumbled. "It's getting a little ridiculous actually, I'm starting to really tired of it."

"It's only been a few days right? All you have to do is wait for the next difficult half-blood to show up and everybody'll be talking about them."

"That could take a while. Anyway, I'm done talking, are you going to teach me?" She asked with a smile.

"Sure, the conversation was turning depressing anyway." He led her over to a section of the field where they wouldn't be in the way and gave her a bow and a quiver of arrows.

* * *

><p>A couple of weeks later, Lyric was talking to Aileen as the cabin made their way to the dining pavilion, discussing the different theories about her parentage. "The daughters of Aphrodite say that they'll make your hair fall off if you're related to them." The older girl said. "The Apollo kids wouldn't mind you being one of them, they like you. Not to mention you're crazy gifted in a lot of the areas that Apollo controls – singing, archery, healing."<p>

"Yeah, and Demeter's kids say that they want to know my favourite flower so they can have a bed ready for me." Lyric laughed "As for the other theories, I'd still be in your cabin."

"Well in any case, it'll be okay as long as you're not a daughter of Aphrodite." The two of them laughed as they sat down at their table. They were in line to offer part of their food to the gods when there was a collective gasp from the rest of the camp; Lyric looked around and then, catching Aileen's eye, she looked up in time to see a glowing red spear slowly fading above her head.

All at once everyone began to whisper only to be silenced by Chiron "Alright everyone, calm down." He said firmly glancing around.

Aileen looked at Lyric, "Do you know what that means?"

"No, what's going on? Why is everyone freaking out?"

"That's the symbol of a god. The symbol of your father." Aileen said quietly. "It's the symbol for Ares."

Lyric went pale "W-what?" She whispered. "N-no, that's impossible. I can't be."

"Look, we aren't too happy about this either." Said a blonde girl coming up be side them "You think we like the fact that you look like that?"

"Look like what? Attractive? It's not my fault you're all ugly butch boxes." Lyric snapped before she spun on her heel and ran out of the pavilion, tears in her eyes.


	4. Chapter 3

Chapter Three

That night, Lyric moved into Cabin 5 much to her displeasure and was forced to go through a long and drawn out introduction to each of the residents. Not one of them had a good thing to say about her.

"So you're obviously not very loved by dad are you?" A guy named Mark said the next morning once the majority of them were awake.

"What are you talking about Mitch?" Lyric asked in a bored tone, running a brush through her waist length hair.

"Mark." He snapped.

"I don't care." She reached into her bag for a large emerald barrette to fasten her hair back.

Clarisse glared at her before turning to her brother "What _are_ you talking about Mark?"

"We all have something that dad gave us for one occasion or another, your spear and whatever else we all have." He smirked coldly over at Lyric "What does Little Miss Perfect have? Nothing."

The whole cabin laughed as they realized that it was true.

Lyric stood and walked to the door, before leaving she turned back to them "I don't want his blood, what makes you think I'd accept anything else from him?" With that she turned back and walked out leaving them all staring after her, bewildered.

After a light breakfast of a bagel and cream cheese, Lyric went to meet Aileen and the Stoll brothers at the volleyball court for a short game. They wanted to talk about what had happened after she'd gone back to the Ares cabin but she deftly dodged their questions.

"Nothing happened when went back there. I was introduced to all the kids and given a bunk and that was it." She said as she sent the ball flying into the lava pit. "Sorry."

"No worries, happens all the time." Travis said with a grin.

"I've done it like five or six times." Connor laughed.

"You're boyfriend's waving at you." Aileen said pointing over Lyric's shoulder.

"What are you talking about?" She said looking "Oh Lee, he's not my boyfriend."

"Yet." The brothers muttered.

"Shut up." She said and went over to Lee. "Hey, what's up?"

"Wanna walk and talk?" He asked giving her a kind smile.

"Yeah sure." Lyric smiled back, she'd never noticed entirely handsome Lee was until now. His eyes were a deep blue that lightened around the rims, his hair was a sandy blonde that fell just above his neck and into his eyes slightly.

They turned and headed toward the beach which wouldn't be that crowded. "So, what's it like to live on Broadway?" He asked her.

"Impossible. For the most part anyways it being mostly theatres."

"What? I thought you lived on Broadway." He looked confused.

She laughed "I live a couple of blocks away. Within walking distance so mom and I always say Broadway. It's easier."

"Ah I see. So what's it like being raised on Broadway?"

"Amazing, you meet so many people and you're always learning something."

"What's one of your favourite memories?"

"When I learned to dance, I was seven. It was on a stage set for _Phantom of the Opera_, for the Masquerade scene. I was taught the waltz by one of the extras, it was amazing." Her eyes shone as she remembered.

"Wow, that would be amazing." He stared at her, marvelling at the way her eyes held so much emotion while still being so guarded; and the way her hair fell around her face, the barrette catching the rays of the sun.

"So why don't we stop the small talk and you ask me what I know you want to." She turned her head to look at him.

"Um, okay. So how are you? With the whole Ares thing?"

"Well, I hate the people in my cabin, they hate me and I'm not too fond of the god who impregnated my mother either."

"Ah well honey you do know that the people in your cabin are your family right?"

"Blood makes them relatives, not family." She said firmly.

"Last I checked it made them both..."

Lyric laughed a little, "According to my mother, blood makes people relatives, the way people interact with and treat their relatives makes them family."

Lee considered the theory as they watched the naiads tip a canoe of boys into the lake, "Yeah, I can see how that would work."

Lyric sat down and leaned back against a tree. "How do you get along with your siblings?"

"Pretty well." He shrugged and sat beside her "We don't try to beat each other senseless like yours do."

"I don't know if they _**try**_ to beat each other senseless but it does seem to happen a lot doesn't it?"

"More than you know Red, more than you know." Lee chuckled.

Lyric turned to look at him " 'Red'?" She asked an eyebrow raised.

"It's a nickname, if you don't like it I'll just call you Lyric like everybody else."

"No, it's okay. It's just that no ones ever given me a nickname before."

"Really? Wow you really are an only child aren't you?"

"Yeah I really am, where my mother's concerned anyways." She said, her voice holding a little venom. She sighed "I'm sorry..."  
>"Why?" He asked shifting slightly so he could see her better.<p>

"I'm being so ungrateful. I know that there are so many others whose parents haven't given them a second thought - maybe not even a first thought - and all I can do is complain..."

Lee nodded, understanding coloring his eyes "Don't worry, everyone understands. Cabin 5 isn't anyone's first choice and I can only imagine how much harder it is for you." He gently squeezed her hand "I can guarantee you that no one here thought that you'd end up in that cabin, you certainly don't fit the bill."

She smiled a little "I am definately the best looking person in that cabin aren't I ?"

He laughed and nodded "In my opinion anyway, I know a few of my sisters find the oldest of your brothers - what did they say? Oh right, '_A total hunk.'_"

"Dean? Wow I... I don't even know how to respond to that." She laughed; after a few minutes of sitting quietly Lyric suddenly noticed that Lee hadn't let go of her hand. She felt a blush rise to her face.

"Lee, you haven't given me an archery lesson in a while." She said hoping that he'd take the subtle hint.

"You're right, want to go now? There doesn't look like there's too many people there." He said looking at the archery field.

"Sure, let's go." She replied as he let go of her hand and stood up.

He offered her a hand to help her up; he pulled a little too hard and she collided with him due to the momentum "Oh, sorry, are you okay?" He asked.

"Yeah I'm good, really happy I don't have a traditional Broadway nose." She laughed.

"What are you talking about?"

"You know Barbra Streisand? She was famous for her large nose. If I had had a nose like that our little collision just then would've broken it." She explained as they started walking.

"Ahh I see." He replied looking completely lost.

"And you call yourself a son of the god of theatre." Lyric laughed again.

"Exactly, 'son of', not 'god of'."

"Don't worry, keep hanging out with me and I'll have you properly educated before the end of summer."

"I'll hold you to that Red." He grinned.


	5. Chapter 4

**Sorry about the shortness of the chapter and the time it took to update. My brain stopped letting the story come out :( Hopefully that's fixed *finger's crossed***

* * *

><p><span>Chapter Four<span>

Lee was leaning against a tree, watching Silena as she showed off her Pegasus riding skills to a few of the newer kids. He smiled as some of the girls stared wide eyed at the beautiful winged horse. After another fifteen minutes of "The Introduction to the Pegasus", Lee walked over to where Silena was standing and overseeing the kids as they groomed a couple of the horses.

"Hey Lee, what's up?" The blue eyed girl asked as he walked up.

"Have you seen Lyric?" He asked, rubbing the nose of the Pegasus that came up beside them.

"No, not since breakfast." Silena thought for a minute "She can't be that hard to find, she's the only one here with hair that red."

Lee chuckled "While that may be true, it's hard to spot her by her hair when her hair's up."

"Have you checked the beach? I've seen her there a few times with a notebook looking very frustrated."

"I looked there after breakfast but it couldn't hurt to look again. Thanks Silena." He smiled and headed toward the beach.

Lee walked onto the beach, which was usually quiet at this time, only to find it populated by a massive group of campers, most of whom were watching something unfold a little further up the beach from them all.

"What's going on?" He asked as he came up beside Annabeth Chase (daughter of Athena) and Percy Jackson (son of Poseidon)

The blonde turned, her hair catching in the wind,"The children of Ares are tormenting their new sister." She said before turning back, a stony look on her face. Lee followed her line of sight and stared at the scene before him.

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><p>Lyric was standing on the beach, facing a group of her siblings; what they wanted she had no idea but something in her told her that it wasn't going to end well and she felt her body naturally shift into a more defensive position. "What do you want?"<p>

A rather evil looking boy sneered down at her "To welcome you to our little family here. That's not so bad is it?"

Lyric's eyes narrowed and she found herself mentally calculating the odds of her surviving a full frontal attack from the group - they were not so promising.

"I don't want to be part of the family so I'll pass on the welcoming if it's all the same to you." She said, her voice proud, betraying none of the nervousness she felt.

"Did we tell you that it was optional?" With that comment a few of them leaped at her in an attempt to pin her to the ground. It was then that Lyric's instincts kicked in, she lept out of the way and landed gracefully behind the primary attackers.

She deftly dodged the fists that flew towards her as soon as everyone realized what had happened; she danced through the crowd, never getting hit and while she never threw a punch, damage was caused just by her dodging others.

Soon it was just Lyric facing against Clarisse and the latter's magical spear; the redhead's eyes widened at the sight of the electricity emanating form the weapon and she searched the beach for a discarded weapon.

Finding nothing, she did her best to avoid the end of the terrifying weapon. She was running out of ways to move and she knew that if that thing caught her she'd be in the infirmary for days.

_ It's a dance._ She realized suddenly. _That's all this is, that's all I have to do._ With that realization, Lyric's feet took on a life of their own, flying through steps that she's known her whole life. She was transitioning from ball changes to box steps to the fox trot as easily as most people breathe.

Clarisse was tiring, everyone could see it but when they looked at the red head they noticed a new vigour, a new strength in her movements. She was driving the brunette further and further away from their siblings before suddenly executing a beautiful spinning kick that sent the larger girl flying into the lake and the electric spear into the waves.

"Now, I don't like you all and it's obvious that you don't like me either. Let's just agree to tolerate each other until I leave here at the end of the summer." Lyric said, her melodic voice cold and hard. She gathered up her things and headed off towards the dining pavilion, leaving the rest of the campers staring after her, shock clear on all of their faces.


	6. Chapter 5

Hey folks sorry about the epically long time between updates. At first it was computer problems and then it was a severe case of writer's block. Hopefully that is all in the past. Well, here it is, I hope y'all enjoy.

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><p>Chapter Five<p>

Lyric arrived to her archery lessons a bit early and was not shocked to see most of the other campers there, look away and or move away from her. She'd seen it happen to most if not all of her siblings; it was a reaction that was reserved for the children of Ares alone.

She stood in the sun, watching the others as they shot their targets, noting the way they held their bows, the way they balanced themselves; she knew these things would be good to know in a battle. Not that her fellow campers would be her enemies … she didn't think.

She turned to walk back to the edge of the archery area when she saw Lee coming her way. She smiled softly when he didn't change direction and her smile grew when he smiled back.

"Hey Red, all set for your first lesson?" He asked as he grabbed a couple bows; handing one to her he motioned for her to copy his stance.

"Hey. Yeah, now that I know that you're not going to run away from me." She glanced at him quickly and then mirrored his stance exactly, but set her legs at a different angle than his.

He sent her a questioning look and she shrugged "Everybody in camp has avoided me since I destroyed my cabin-mates." She sighed softly and lowered her bow.

Lee looked at some of the others around them, some were whispering as they watched, most had gathered at the far end of the field. "Come with me." He put the bows down, took her hand and walked towards the beach.

They walked along quietly for a while before Lee spoke. "Red, you do know that this, like your parentage will blow over. Just as long as you don't do anything like the incident yesterday."

She shot a glare at him, "You do know that the _incident_ as you put it, was not my fault. I was defending myself from my brothers and sisters." She stopped and sat down on the sand. "Brothers and sisters that I never wanted. I never wanted any of this."

"I know. Most feel that way, I know I did." He sat down next to her and leaned back on his elbows. "When I first got here, I had been taken from a family reunion, I was nine. I think my father may have mentioned the camp to my mom cause she showed up here not long after, maybe a few hours."

She looked over at him, her green eyes full of compassion.

"She argued with Chiron through the gate, I was there and I wanted nothing more than to go home. Chiron explained that I was a valuable demigod, that I couldn't go home until I had the skills to defend myself. He told her that she could come and pick me up at the end of the summer but for now she needed to go home and leave me with them."

Lyric laid a hand gently on his leg, "Well at least your mother knew where you were. Mine has no idea, she's sitting in our apartment wondering where the hell I am and I can't tell her." Her eyes shone with tears and he gently brushed her hair away from her face.

"I feel horrible for feeling so much pity for myself when so many of the others here never see either of their parents, but I've never been away from my mother in circumstances like this." Lyric took a shuddering breath and wiped away the tears the slid down her cheeks.

Lee shifted and put an arm around her shoulders, pulling her close, "We all feel like that when we first get here. None of us knew what to do and none of us knew exactly how to handle it. Some get like your sister Clarisse and are massively angry, others are more like the Stoll brothers and just annoy everyone cause they think it's funny. You just need to find a way to cope."

She nodded and leaned against him "Yeah, but I don't know exactly what to do. Usually I'd talk to my mom but that can't happen. She suggested songwriting a few months ago to help with my anger but that just makes me angry."

"What about just singing?" He said, gently rubbing her arm "Apparently you're good, and it's always a good outlet for emotion. We do sing-alongs almost every night, the songs aren't hard to learn and every now and then we sing popular songs, you could sing with us."

"Who exactly is us?"

"The children of Apollo. We don't usually allow others but that's mainly because not many others can sing as well as we can. You, I think you could handle it." He chuckled as she pulled away to look at him.

"Handle it? Fletch, I could sing circles around you." She grinned as his eyebrows shot up.

"One, don't call me 'Fletch'. Two, bring it Red, I'll sing any song you want, and I'll wipe the floor with you."

Lyric's eyes glimmered at the challenge. "Fine, next sing along, you sing whatever I pick and I'll sing whatever you pick. We'll let the camp decide who's better." They stood up and started walking back to camp. "Oh, and if I can't call you 'Fletch', you can't call me 'Red'."

His eyes narrowed mischievously, "Okay, I'll just come up with a different nickname. One that's gonna have you _begging_ for me to call you 'Red'."


End file.
